Question About Prepping Stock

[Jack Truschel]

Hello to All,

I plan to build a butcher block style cutting board similar to the one shown in Mike Schwing's tutorial. Since this is my first attempt, I will use just one type of wood (hard maple). I called my supplier this morning and he mentioned that he is expecting a new shipment of hard maple next Tuesday. His lumber is kiln dried with a moisture content of 8-10%. I was thinking I'd buy a 10-12" board about 6' in length. To make milling (jointing, planing, ripping) more manageable, I thought I'd x-cut the board in half, then rip each piece in half lengthwise. I'd then sticker these four pieces in my shop to air dry for four to six weeks before milling to final dimensions. After stating all this, I'll finally get to my question. Should the boards be ripped to a narrower width, e.g., two inches instead of six inches before air drying? Or when were talking just a few inches in width does it matter? My goal is to avoid any type of warpage after project construction.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Regards,

Jack Truschel

[Jim Becker]

Cutting them down to length is not a horrible idea since you know they are going into a "short" project, but I wouldn't rip until I knew what sizes I was going to use or at least rip to a width that will "work out" when you get to final cutting for the board, as it were. Don't put yourself in the position of wasting material because you ripped in the wrong place. Again, I wouldn't rip them and it will not make a major difference in the acclimation process.

[Chris Padilla]

Jack,

Some guys like to mill/rough cut pretty close to what they need and then let the wood 'rest' for a bit to make sure it doesn't wanna move any more.

Are you buying S2S or S4S or is the wood all rough? If the wood is rough, then cut into 4 pieces as you want, mill it, then stack/sticker it and watch it. I don't think you need to wait 4-6 weeks but let the wood do the talking. After this, cut it up and move onto your project.

If the wood is S2S or S4S, you could just leave it as is and let it acclimate or cut it up and let it acclimate. Again, I don't think you need to wait so long...I'd say a week to two weeks at most but, again, let the wood do the talking.

If you get any additional movement while acclimating, another stage of milling might be necessary. After milling, you should let it rest again and observe.